


Blue star

by kuron_10



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-02-29 21:50:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18786913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuron_10/pseuds/kuron_10
Summary: Shiro had told him that he still had nightmares, but he had never contacted him before. It was the reason why Shiro did not want them to spend the night together – he would only wake up Curtis. And even though Curtis had told him various times already that he would not mind it, Shiro had insisted on spending the nights apart.





	Blue star

**Author's Note:**

> Curtashi Week of Firsts: First Night Together

The sudden flash of light startled Curtis. He just had turned in his sleep when the brightness next to his head lighted up the room. Someone had texted him.  
Should he read it? Maybe it was from the nightshift of the bridge, asking for help? Maybe it was just Hunk that wanted to know everyone’s breakfast orders. Sometimes he had the craziest ideas in the middle of the night and wanted to know who was brave enough for his newest creations in the morning.   
Or maybe it was some spam text.

Should he take a look or just go back to sleep?

Curiosity won when he reached for this phone. He slid over it and felt a sudden attack of anxiety. Shiro. Why would Shiro text him at 1 a.m. at night?!

_“Are you by any chance awake?”_

That was weird.  
Curtis opened the messenger, “Yes. Everything alright?”  
Shiro typed. Deleted. Typed again. Deleted again.

Something was definitely wrong.  
“Takashi, what’s the matter?” Curtis typed.  
Shiro typed, before deleting one more time. Finally a text came through.  
 _”Nothing really. I just woke up from a nightmare. Sorry for contacting you. See you in the morning!_

Shiro had told him that he still had nightmares, but he had never contacted him before. It was the reason why Shiro did not want them to spend the night together – he would only wake up Curtis. And even though Curtis had told him various times already that he would not mind it, Shiro had insisted on spending the nights apart.   
“Nothing”, Curtis repeated, shaking his head. Shiro would definitely not contact him because of nothing. Without hesitating, he jumped out of bed. Maybe Shiro wouldn’t let him in, but he couldn’t just go back to sleep when he knew his boyfriend was lying in bed, shaking and feeling afraid of closing his eyes again.

Just dressed in his sleeping shirt and his boxer he quickly ran barefoot down the hall to the captain’s room.   
Shiro had given him access to his room already, so he simply pressed his hand down on the identification display.  
The door opened.

The room was set to the brightest lights. Shiro sat on the edge of his bed, holding a glass of water and staring at him. Curtis could see the fear in his eyes. 

“You came”, he whispered.  
Curtis rushed over to him and quickly sat down next to him, “Of course I did.” He ran his fingers through Shiro’s hair. It was damp. He had been sweating with fear. 

A sudden jolt ran through Shiro until he sank against Curtis, snuggling weakly against his shoulder. Curtis immediately wrapped his hands around his shaking body. “I’ve got you”, he said, “You’re not alone.”  
“I have these damn nightmares nearly every night”, Shiro whispered, “But today… it was… it was worse than before and…” He didn’t finish the sentence. Curtis knew that feeling, waking up from a nightmare and still feeling so lost in it, still so occupied by it.

Curtis tightened his arms around Shiro, “I’m here with you, I’ll hold you.”

“You need the sleep though”, Shiro said, “Tomorrow is the meeting with the coalition members. We need to be fully rested.”  
“Maybe this is why you had the nightmare”, Curtis said, “The preparations had been stressful over the last days. You have been working too much.”  
“Maybe.”

Curtis carefully kissed his forehead, “It’s going to be okay. I am fully prepared, with sleep or without sleep. I will blow them away tomorrow with the sheer power of my awesome presentation.”  
Shiro smiled, closing his eyes, “I know.”

“Would you allow me to stay for tonight?” Curtis asked, “Maybe you will find some rest if I stay here. You wouldn’t be alone. If you cannot go back to sleep, we can talk all night. I just don't want you to be alone.” Shiro possibly still did not want him around during the night, but maybe something had changed.   
“I would love to”, Shiro said, “But I was sweating in my sleep because of the nightmare. It’s gross.”  
“It’s not gross at all”, Curtis said, “It’s natural.”

“I want to change the bed sheets first though”, Shiro said, slowly breaking away from Curtis.

“No”, Curtis said, “I will do that.”  
“Really?”  
Curtis got up and smiled at him, “Yes. I bet I am quicker anyway. My grandma always made me help her and I am really fast.” Also he looked at his floaty arm that possibly couldn’t change bed sheets that quickly.

“Would you mind if I took a quick shower meanwhile? I just… I want to wash that feeling and sweat of the nightmare away.”  
“Do that”, Curtis said, “You will feel better afterwards.” His gaze followed Shiro to his bathroom – as the captain he did not only have the largest room on the ship, but also had a tiny bathroom of his own. Thank heavens, Curtis wouldn’t have wanted Shiro to walk through the halls like this, still being so shaken by the nightmare.

Curtis took the fresh sheets from the cupboard and quickly changed them. Maybe the fresh smell would help Shiro focus on something else. He wished he would know more about nightmares though – he had read about it, but not how he could help him when something like this happened.

 

When Shiro came out of the bathroom, he smiled at him, slowly sitting down on the bed, “You really shouldn’t pamper me like this. I get used to it.” He looked better though, not as pale as before. He was wearing fresh clothes and his hair was still a bit damp – but this time from the water.  
“That’s what I hope. You deserve to be pampered like this.” Curtis sat down on the other side of the bed, leaving some distance between them so that Shiro wouldn’t feel too threatened by him. 

“I feel a lot better”, Shiro said, “It’s just this… this weird feeling after a nightmare.”  
“Do you want to talk about it?”

Shiro reached for the remote to reduce the brightness of the room to a soft light that came from the back of his bed. He finally moved fully on the bed and slightly petted the place next to him, silently asking Curtis to sit close to him. Curtis did so, but waited for him to speak.

“Usually the nightmares are about the fights in the arena”, Shiro said, “Sometimes I dream about being stuck in the clone body, not being able to control it. But today… today it was about you.”  
Curtis looked at him with surprise. 

“We were in a forest”, Shiro said, “There were these strange noises. I had this weird feeling while we walked through the forest, as if something was going to happen to us soon. We reached a creek. It was beautiful actually. The colour reminded me of your eyes. Very blue. We walked down the creek and I still had that weird feeling. The creek then turned into a small pond. You looked into the pond and all of a sudden you had this horror on your face. You turned to me and just whispered ‘oh no’ and I knew something terrifying was in that pond. I woke up because I was so scared of what you have seen.”  
Curtis softly touched his shoulder.   
“I am used to gore dreams. I am used to fights, to death… but seeing you in horror was what scared me most. I… I have no idea what it was and it just made me feel so awful, because I couldn’t keep you save, no matter what it was. But it scared you.”

Curtis’ heart broke. So this was why he was contacting Curtis after all – he was worried about him. He had to do something about it.

“I have read once that nightmares often lose the horror when you add a pleasant ending to them”, Curtis said, “We could give it a try.”  
“Yeah, my therapist said that as well. But it’s actually hard for me to focus my thoughts when I’m like this. Usually I can do that just fine, but these damn nightmares just mess with me so much…”

Curtis slowly nodded. Of course they would influence Shiro’s abilities to focus. He was usually so strong, the nightmares were something he couldn’t control. But maybe this was what he could do for him. “Then let me try to guide you through this story. Let’s just see it as the turning point. I will try to find a pleasant ending for you. Close your eyes and concentrate on my voice. Try to remember the moment when you woke up.”  
Shiro took a deep breath, before lying back down and closing his eyes, “Okay… okay, I’m ready. Yes, the scene at the pond and you… you were scared.”

Curtis tried to imagine the situation and find a solution for it.  
“I have this anxious look in my eyes, because I have seen what’s on the bottom of the pond. There is a box that used to belong to my grandmother. It has been lost for years. I never knew where it had ended up, and now it was there all of a sudden. It gave me a big shock because I never thought it would appear at a place like this.”  
“A box?”  
“It’s a small treasure chest”, Curtis says, “There is moss all over it, but I still recognize it. It has my grandmother’s initials. How am I going to reach that? The water is so cold! It’s so important to me, so close and yet I might never get it back. Maybe it will disappear forever if I can't get it now.” He waited for Shiro to accept this image.  
“My arm could retrieve it.”

“Yes! Your arm could! Now… please concentrate. Can you retrieve that treasure box?” He had no idea if it was right what he did now, but he would do everything for Shiro to forget his fear. Especially when it was because of him.

Shiro slowly nodded, “Yes… yes, I have got it.”

“Concentrate on your arm and the weight of the box”, Curtis said, “feel the cold water. Feel the air once you got it out of the water. Do you think you can open it?”  
“I might have to break it.”  
“Then do it.”  
“But it’s your grandmother’s…”  
“It’s not the box that’s important, but what’s inside. Let’s give it a try, maybe we can open it carefully.”

Shiro hesitated. He needed time to proceed the thought and to imagine it.  
“I think I can open it without breaking. The lock seems to have been broken already”, Shiro finally said. It was good, he was going along with the story.  
“Slowly and carefully, there is water inside”, Curtis said, “oh, look, it’s opening.”  
Shiro still had his eyes closed, he seemed to be really into it. That was very good. Very carefully Curtis sat up in bed to be prepared for the next step, carefully taking off his necklace.

“Look, there is a necklace inside”, Curtis said, “I suddenly remember it! My grandmother used to wear that stone. What colour is it?”  
“Blue”, Shiro said.  
“Yes, it’s indeed blue”, Curtis said relieved, “It’s actually an aquamarine. My grandmother gave it to me when I enrolled at the Garrison. She said that way I would always have her with me, to watch over me.”  
Shiro smiled.

“Sit up”, Curtis asked, “But keep your eyes closed. Trust me.”  
Shiro hesitated, but slowly he sat up, still keeping his eyes shut.  
Curtis reached over to him, carefully putting the necklace around him.  
Shiro’s eyes flew open immediately.

“Do not be afraid”, Curtis said, “It’s just the necklace. You retrieved it, so it’s yours now.”

Shiro reached for the necklace, the stone – the blue stone.  
“It’s…”  
“My grandmother said she bought it when I was a baby”, Curtis said, “Because it reminded her of my eye colour. She said she never wanted to forget that colour.”  
Shiro stared at the stone in his hand.  
“Many babies have blue eyes, but later on they change eye colour. I did not. So she said she could give me the necklace, because she does not need the necklace to remember anymore.”

“It’s yours”, Shiro whispered.  
“I do not need the necklace anymore either”, Curtis said smiling, “I have my grandmother with me, wherever I go. But you… you might have many more nightmares to come, and sometimes I won’t be by your side. I hope this stone will remind you that I am always there in your heart. Always. In your nightmares, in your dreams and in your life. I hope this becomes your lucky stone.”

Shiro’s hand slowly closed around the stone. He closed his eyes one more time, as if he felt the power that radiated from the stone. 

Opening his eyes again, his gaze had become stronger.   
“I love you.”  
It was the first time that Shiro had said those words to him.  
“I love you too.”  
Curtis did not hesitate to answer it. He knew he loved Shiro – had known it for a long time already. But it had never been the right time to say it. But now – sitting here in the middle of the night, sharing those intimate thoughts, their feelings had finally been fully exposed. There were no more barriers between them anymore.

Magically they were drawn to each other; they hugged each other like never before, feeling the warmth of the other one so close, listening to their hearts beating as one. Curtis’ hands travelled all over Shiro’s body, tenderly rubbing circles into his strong back. Shiro had his floaty hand in his hair, carefully playing with it. He was so cautious, so sweet, Curtis buried his face into Shiro’s neck. They were so close, nothing could compare to this very moment.

“Why did you know I would say the stone is blue?” Shiro suddenly asked.  
“I didn’t!” Curtis laughed, “You have no idea how nervous I was! If you had said black or red or yellow, I would have just rolled off the bed and hid under it.”  
Shiro burst into laughter, “Then it was a really risky story, you know.”  
“I know. I just hoped neither of us would mess up.”  
“We didn’t.”  
“No, we didn’t.”

Shiro leaned in for a kiss, carefully caressing his boyfriend’s cheeks, “Thank you, for everything. I really feel much better now.”  
“We should try to rest a bit now”, Curtis said, kissing his boyfriend one more time, “Or at least doze a bit. You think you can do that? We can take turns, if you feel safer that way. I would watch over you.”

“Mmh… I don't think that’s necessary. I think I could find some rest”, Shiro said, “Especially because you are with me. I am just worried I might wake you up if I have another nightmare…”  
Curtis lay back down, offering Shiro to cuddle close to him, “I want you to wake me up. I do not mind it, Takashi. Wake me up every single time, please. I want to be there for you, I want to help you. One day you will be able to leave those battles deep within you behind, but until then we keep on fighting them. We’ll fight them together, day and night.”  
Shiro immediately accepted the invitation and snuggled to Curtis. His warmth drove away the last crumbles of the nightmare, “Yes, we do.”

Curtis wrapped his arms around Shiro, holding him close for the rest of the night. They both didn’t know it yet, but it would be the first time for Shiro to remember a dream and not a nightmare when he woke up – the beautiful dream about a blue star watching over him.


End file.
